Video broadcasts and televisions are ubiquitous. The broadcasts can contain a variety of content, ranging from entertainment to news. However, very few people have televisions at work and therefore cannot access video broadcasts during the day. This tends to isolate people from information during the very hours when many important events are occurring.
Instead of televisions, many in the work force have personal computers or work stations at their desks. These computers do not always work in strict isolation. Local area networks (LANs) now connect many workplace computers. The network uses a "server" computer to connect with and direct activities with the "client" computers located in individual offices. Computers can also be connected by means of a modem to bulletin boards and other commercial databases of information such as America Online or Prodigy. However, these sources typically only present text which was prepared earlier and then loaded onto the database being accessed.
Another source of information accessible by a computer is the Internet. A popular interface to the Internet is a software product known as a browser. The browser allows the user to search for particular sites on the Internet by presenting it the site's address or URL. The browser also takes advantage of hypertext markup language (HTML) links located at certain Internet sites that allows the user to quickly access additional sites. A particularly popular portion of the Internet is the World Wide Web (WWW), also known as "the web." The web is characterized by "home pages" controlled by companies and individuals. The best web pages have interesting and interactive graphics. However, even the best web pages present only textual information or short prerecorded video clips.
A need exists for a method of allowing networked computers to have access to live video broadcasts. Such a method should provide the user with a choice between broadcasts and yet maintain a level of control at the server level as to which live feeds are available to particular client computers. Such a system should also allow the user to customize the video display. For example, the live video display should be sizable to allow the user to simultaneously work on other projects with his computer.